With NAVITRONIC® Plus, the new 3D machine control system, VÖGELE are presenting a true innovation at Bauma 2007. The system, a new development from scratch, includes an "open interface” (Open Port) to which common 3D positioning systems, such as laser-based total stations or GPS from many renowned manufacturers can be connected. One crucial economic advantage of NAVITRONIC® Plus is that 3D positioning systems, already available in the clients’ equipment pools for use with other machines, can also be used with the road paver. Thus, thanks to NAVITRONIC® Plus, the extra investment for asphalt paving is cut substantially. But in addition, VÖGELE NAVITRONIC® Plus offers another outstanding economic advantage: existing survey data collected, for instance for earthworks, can in the wake be also used for paving operations. As a result, overall expenses are reduced considerably.

With NAVITRONIC® Plus, VÖGELE offer a machine control system that handles not only grade and slope control but also controls fully automatically the screed’s position and the paver’s direction of motion, with millimetre accuracy. Thus VÖGELE NAVITRONIC® Plus is unique in the market.

When executing major road building contracts such as motorway or large traffic areas, 3D control is already common practice for earthworks. When looking at the work carried out with road pavers, the focus not merely is on meeting tight tolerances but also on fast and cost-effective completion of the job. For the majority of contracts this scale, wires are tensioned for pavement construction. The tensioned wire serves as a reference for grade and slope control. Installing a wire, however, is a time-consuming job with high costs incurred for every project. As NAVITRONIC® Plus operates with a virtual reference, this expenditure can be dispensed with when preparing the job site. As a consequence, costs for acquiring the system will soon pay off.

NAVITRONIC® Plus as an upgrade for NIVELTRONIC® Plus

When used with the road paver, NAVITRONIC® Plus becomes an integral part of NIVELTRONIC® Plus, the VÖGELE System for Automated Grade and Slope Control. In addition to conventional grade and slope control (elevation and transverse slope of the screed) it also controls fully automatically the screed’s position and the paver’s direction of motion. This renders NAVITRONIC® Plus a true 3D machine control system, made available in this form only by VÖGELE.

The “open interface” opens up NAVITRONIC® Plus to most varied positioning systems

The central component of 3D machine control, in fact the digital positioning system, is connected to NAVITRONIC® Plus via an “open interface”, a so-called Open Port. Thanks to this type of interface, different systems from renowned manufacturers can now be selected for combination with NAVITRONIC® Plus. No matter whether this system is an optical one with a laser-based total station and prism or a satellite-based one with GPS receiver (e.g. mmGPS from TopCon). When considering that the use of 3D control machine systems is already widespread for earthworks, then the benefit becomes evident: with NAVITRONIC® Plus, the same 3D positioning system can be used to control the road paver. This means that existing equipment can also serve for asphalt paving, thus increasing the equipment’s degree of utilization and rendering it even more profitable.

Use of existing digital design data

Using the same positioning system also facilitates the import of survey data, the so-called pavement design specification. Existing data can simply be fed into the NAVITRONIC® Plus system for asphalt paving. Such data has often been collected already for building the roadbase using graders and dozers. When working according to the conventional method with tensioned wires, surveying of the route often needed to be carried out anew when earthworks were completed to serve subsequent paving operations. With NAVITRONIC® Plus, this second surveying is a matter of the past as data, once collected, can easily be fed into the system and used for paving as well. In addition to saving time, this offers an extra advantage: the survey and paving teams can work with systems they are familiar with, without any instructions required. NAVITRONIC® Plus is controlled via the display of the 3D positioning system. While paving, corrections in layer thickness can be initiated, as usual, from the screwman's console.

Patented automated control of the paver’s direction of motion

The new 3D control intervenes in the paver’s steering system. This means that the road paver, whose position is currently picked up by the laser-based total station or GPS, is guided fully automatically along the route’s specified course. The paving team can monitor the position of the paver and detect deviations, if any, on the 3D control system’s display. Automated navigation is a process registered as a VÖGELE patent.

Sensors measuring the displacement of the screed for an accurate pave width

In order to achieve the highest level of paving accuracy, the screed’s position is precisely controlled through the intermediary of the screed’s extending units. For this purpose, sensors are installed on the two extending units picking up the screed’s actual width. For the user 2 options exist: he either defines the extreme left-hand or right-hand end of the screed as a specified reference so that paving will take place along this specified line. Or as an alternative, a fixed pave width can be set which will then be precisely adhered to over the full length of the section to be paved. Even deviations of the tractor unit from the specified course can be easily compensated by accurate control of the screed’s extending units in width.

Automated control of varying grade and slope

When using NAVITRONIC® Plus, the whole project is completed fully automatically. This is a crucial advantage especially on those contracts featuring varying grade and slope. The system constantly monitors grade, slope and position of the screed and compares picked up actual values with digital values of the route’s design specification. As soon as the paver reaches a point that requires a change in grade or slope, as is often the case in bends, a reaction of the screed is initiated automatically to match the new requirements.

Perfect basis for achieving the planned paving result

Based on the entirety of picked up data, such as position of paver, direction of motion, position of screed, grade and slope, NAVITRONIC® Plus is capable of controlling any point of the planned route in strict complicance with the specification. This system allowsSUPER pavers to meet extremely tight tolerances which otherwise would only be possible by conventional paving using tensioned wires.

NAVITRONIC® Plus offers outstanding advantages: it boosts productivity in road construction above all when handling large-scale projects. Large road building contracts can be completed within a shorter period of time at lower cost, new roads can be opened to traffic sooner.

NAVITRONIC® Plus at a Glance

Technological Highlights

• Unique: NIVELTRONIC® Plus not only controls elevation and slope of the screed, but also the screed’s position and the paver’s direction of motion.
• Open interface to connect most varied 3D positioning systems offered by renowned manufacturers.
• Existing survey data (collected, for instance, for earthworks) can also be used for paver control.

Components of NAVITRONIC® Plus

• 2 NAVITRONIC® Plus operating consoles for the screed (software included)
• Mast for mounting 3D receivers
• Angle sensor for the mast
• Sensors for picking up displacement of the screed’s extending units

System Requirements in SUPER Pavers

• VÖGELE NIVELTRONIC® Plus
• Other components, such as laser-based total station or GPS combined with a laser receiver

Press and product information:

JOSEPH VÖGELE AG

Press and Public Relations

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Germany

Tel.: +49 (0) 621 8105 202

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presse@voegele.info

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